WDWBurghGooner wrote:I don't know what to make of Belgium. Clearly they are loaded. But this generation of players has never qualified for a major tournament. I could easily see them being similar to Poland from the Euros, a team that everyone tips to be a darkhorse but doesn't get out of the group.

Yeah, they could very well be that trendy dark horse that fizzles at the tournament. It's just hard to rate them lower given the talent on that team.

WDWBurghGooner wrote:I don't know what to make of Belgium. Clearly they are loaded. But this generation of players has never qualified for a major tournament. I could easily see them being similar to Poland from the Euros, a team that everyone tips to be a darkhorse but doesn't get out of the group.

Yeah, they could very well be that trendy dark horse that fizzles at the tournament. It's just hard to rate them lower given the talent on that team.

pfim wrote:Great 3 points for the US, sitting pretty atop the Hex. Hopefully this is the end of Brad Evans at right back.

Honduras really parked the bus, not that I can blame them given their weakened lineup, so the US didn't look nearly as fluid as the Panama game. Nevertheless, the US kept battling, raised the pressure, and eventually got the result.

Totally agree about Evans. I appreciate that he stepped up and was adequate when needed (not to mention the goal at Jamaica), but we really need Cherundolo and/or Chandler back in the mix.

I'm not impressed with Brazil at all. They will certainly be among the favorites next year, but they seem to rely on Neymar to make anything happen at all offensively. Tbh, they could probably use someone like Kaka.

Gaucho wrote:I'm not impressed with Brazil at all. They will certainly be among the favorites next year, but they seem to rely on Neymar to make anything happen at all offensively. Tbh, they could probably use someone like Kaka.

I thought Oskar could play that attacking, orchestrating midfield role for them, but he seems to be invisible for long stretches. But yeah, there's hardly anything that comes out of their central midfield offensively. It's either Neymar or one of the outside backs creating things.

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Gaucho wrote:Neymar isn't easy to like and I'm not sure he'll be a good fit in Barcelona. Maybe Xavi can talk some sense into him.

Agreed on this too. I remember Neymar scoring on a questionable PK against the US in a meaningless friendly last year in the 30th minute or so, and he had this whole stupid choreographed dance routine that he did to celebrate. He's undoubtedly skilled, but seems to have the complete opposite attitude of the core Barca players. He hasn't even really accomplished anything yet...there have been plenty of insanely skilled Brazilians who can't translate the hype and skill to actual results in big leagues and meaningful tournaments.

Gaucho wrote:I'm not impressed with Brazil at all. They will certainly be among the favorites next year, but they seem to rely on Neymar to make anything happen at all offensively. Tbh, they could probably use someone like Kaka.

I thought they played well against Italy last match but Uruguay was the better side for much of today. I hope they catch Spain in the finals- either Brazil will show up focused for it and it will be a great match, or Spain will just rip Brazil to shreds